FALLBROOK -- Most residents of this small town, frustrated after three days of forced evacuation from their homes, were finally let back home Thursday evening.

Officials reopened essentially the parts of town not scorched by the Rice fire this week.

The dying threat of the fire, which burned 9,000 acres since Monday, stayed mostly in the north end of Fallbrook.

As of 8 p.m. Thursday, firefighters had the blaze 40 percent contained, said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman David Shew.

They expect to have their arms around it by Sunday morning, the CalFire spokesman said.

Getting the OK to get residents back to streets that were overrun by the blaze will take some time. One problem: downed powerlines.

"Most of the area, from a fire perceptive, is OK. But we have to get a green light from the power company" before the burn areas can reopen, Shew said.

The fire started Monday morning on the east side of Interstate 15, jumping the freeway around noon. It rushed up the hills toward Fallbrook, taking with it about 200 homes -- including at least 84 mobile homes in a park populated by many senior citizens.

Since then, firefighters kept the blaze away from homes as it headed north through the valleys and toward Riverside County.

By Thursday, the fire's boundary appeared to remain static, including what had once been a volatile line on the north part of the blaze, said Shew.

Firefighters were building the remaining eight miles of fire break they needed to stop the spread of flames.

"They've been working very hard all day at containing it to those areas," Stew said. "They are doing a good job of keeping it where it is."

The announcement that people could go home came late in a day that saw frustrated residents -- out of their homes for three days -- try to slip past armed guards at roadblocks.

With the winds shifting after hot Santa Anas died down this week, county officials first opened up the southernmost slice of the city, south of Burma Road and west of South Mission Road, on Thursday morning.

Folks with homes near but outside of those areas tried to talk their way past police and National Guard troops standing at roadblocks, but many had little luck. Those who were allowed back in had to show proof they were residents before the orange cones were lifted out of their way.

And passing through one barrier didn't mean smooth sailing. Many who made it through one blockade were turned away farther up the road.

One southwestern Fallbrook resident was turned away -- teenager, animals and more stuffed in her car -- after she was told the water was bad, and residents in her area were not permitted to return home.

But that may have been one of the many pieces of false information making the rounds among residents of the tiny town.

The water in Fallbrook is fine, officials said Thursday, even though the chlorination building fell victim to the Rice fire.

"Our water is not the reason why people are not being allowed in," said Keith Lewinger, general manger of the Fallbrook Public Utility District. "The water situation has nothing to do with it."

Lewinger said the district had been able to make a temporary fix to keep the water clean.

Lewinger was reached on his cell phone by a reporter, who was also on a cell phone, standing near the barricade at the corner of Olive Hill and Burma roads -- and watching when authorities told one woman that water contamination was why they would not allow her through the barriers to return home.

Many residents said -- in person or in e-mails and blogs to the North County Times -- that they were frustrated by what they said was spotty information about who could come back to Fallbrook and when.

At the corner of Olive Hill and Burma, Laurie Diaz said that she relied on friends and "a lifeline" of Web blogs while she spent her evacuation time in Irvine with family.

As she waited to be let in through the second roadblock she hit as she headed home, Diaz shook her head in frustration.

"There's no fire here anymore," she said. "They are doing a good job -- of keeping us out."

She paused for a moment, then added, "We aren't upset. We know they are just doing their job."

Penny Fedorchak, owner of El Jardin restaurant, said she wanted to get home and get the restaurant reopened by Saturday, even with a limited menu. Flashing her business card didn't get her past the orange cones and armed men.

"What a journey. What a journey," she said, recalling the frustrating three days she's been kept out of her home.

As residents of the west end of Fallbrook began to return, folks who had decided not to leave the community started emerging from their homes.

For the last few days, very few people have been on the streets of downtown Fallbrook. Many in town were firefighters and lawmen.

But by Thursday, people were out in slightly larger numbers. On Main Street, with thick ash still raining down, three gardeners wearing masks trimmed trees in front of a business.

One 61-year-old Fallbrook man, who asked that his name not be published, said he spent the last few days coming out of his west-end home only occasionally, checking on the homes of friends.

The 24-year resident of Fallbrook said that as the fire danger appeared to turn well away from his home near the western edge of town, he slipped out and headed to a market on Wednesday.

"I had to get an emergency supply of caramel apples," the man said.

Most of the shops in town closed for the last few days -- but not all. El Toro, a popular grocery store and eatery on North Main Street, remained open for grateful residents who stayed behind.

Store owner Mohammad Rahman said that many of his employees lived in Fallbrook and stayed in the area, and that he wanted to be sure to keep the store open for people who might need food and other supplies.

Rahman said he lost money by keeping the store open -- but that was of little consequence to the man who had served at the town's honorary mayor for many years.

"We didn't stay open for customers," Rahman said. "We stayed open for the community."

Rahman said that he and his employees had fielded call after call from area residents who had been evacuated, seeking updates on neighborhoods and such.

As for the water situation, utilities district manager Lewinger said that the concerns about running low on water may have stemmed from the district's request that Fallbrook residents limit their water use for the next few days.

Outdoor irrigation usage -- mainly for the area's growers -- should be limited to the following hours until Monday, Lewinger said. People at even-numbered property addresses in the community should irrigate only between midnight and noon. Those at odd-numbered property addresses should irrigate between the hours of noon to midnight.

"If everybody returns and turns on everything all at once, we are going to run out of water," Lewinger said.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.

Partial lifting of Fallbrook evacuation order

Fallbrook residents within the following boundaries may return home:

- West of Gird Road between Highway 76 and Reche Road

- West of Reche Road from Gird to Live Oak Park.

- West of Reche Road.

- North on Live Oak Park from Reche Road to Alavarado.

- West of Live Oak Park on Alvarado to Stage Coach.

- North on Stage Coach to East Mission Road.

- West on East Mission to the western boundary of Fallbrook.

No access will be allowed east or west of these boundaries. Access will be granted only to residents with identification. Residents may not return by way of Camp Pendleton.